- JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ruled out dismantling any Jewish settlements
in the occupied territories, even rogue ones, saying Palestinians would
see it as a sign of weakness.
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- "Any debate on dismantling the settlements would
be wrong, because it could give an impression of weakness" to Palestinians,
the hardline premier told Israeli public radio Saturday.
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- The issue "will not be touched upon until discussions
on a final settlement," he insisted.
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- The hardline prime minister declined even to back his
defence minister's pledge to eradicate rogue outposts in the West Bank
that have been erected without government authorisation.
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- "What is legal is legal, what is not is not,"
was all Sharon would say when challenged about the wildcat settlements
which have mushroomed since he took over the premiership in March 2001.
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- Defence Minister Benyamin Ben Eliezer vowed in June to
dismantle 19 rogue West Bank outposts, which peace activists say are costing
the Israeli army and taxpayer a fortune in men and resources to protect.
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- But Peace Now insisted the following month that "no
inhabited settlement has been dismantled."
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- Hardline settlers have established more than 50 new outposts
in the West Bank since Sharon took office, according to Peace Now figures.
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